Egypt turns a new page as it inaugurates its first post-revolution president
following the tumult of the Arab Spring

Declaring that Egypt had reached a “historic turning point”, Abdulfattah el-Sisi, the former head of the country’s military, was on Sunday sworn in as president for a four-year term at the helm of a nation beset by unrest and economic problems.

Almost a year since since he overthrew Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood president, after a backlash against the Arab Spring, the retired field marshal used his first speech to the nation to mark out the fight against terrorism as his most pressing task.

“Defeating terrorism and achieving security is the top priority in our coming phase,” he said, referring to his Islamist opponents. There would be “no leniency” for acts of violence, he vowed.

Mr Sisi took the oath in a ceremony at the Constitutional Court broadcast live on television. “It is time for us to build a future that is more stable and pen a new reality for the future of this nation,” he told diplomats at a reception at the presidential palace after his inauguration.

The 59-year-old career infantry officer ousted the country’s first freely elected president last July following days of mass protests by Egyptians demanding the end of Muslim Brotherhood rule.

For the occasion, Sunday was declared a national holiday and tight security was enforced by the police and military throughout Cairo.

More than a quarter of Egyptians live below the poverty line and Mr Sisi has claimed he can invigorate the economy, pledging to build 26 new tourist resorts, eight new airports and 22 industrial estates. “Our co-operation in work and construction will lead to prosperity and luxury,” he said on Sunday.

But security is the key challenge in a country where attacks by Islamists have left hundreds of security personnel dead over the past 11 months.

Extremists have stepped up attacks in response to the state’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies, in which more than 1,400 people have been killed and 16,000 detained.

Mr Morsi and other senior leaders of the Brotherhood, which has been designated a terrorist organisation, are currently standing trial on a series of charges. They strongly deny any wrongdoing and accuse Egypt’s new rulers of crushing its fledgling democracy.

Mr Sisi won a three-day presidential election last month with 97 per cent of the vote, according to officials.